How is Social Security calculated in Advizr?

What is PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) and how is it calculated?According to the Social Security Administration, the PIA is: “The ‘primary insurance amount’ (PIA) is the benefit (before rounding down to next lower whole dollar) a person would receive if he/she elects to begin receiving retirement benefits at his/her normal retirement age. At this age, the benefit is neither reduced for early retirement nor increased for delayed retirement.” Advizr is utilizing the calculation from the Social Security Administration.In Advizr, this PIA benefit is automatically estimated in the Proposed financial plan if no social security income is added under the client profile. An advisor can override this in the What-if’s Social Security tab or by entering $0 of SS income in the Profile's Income section.

What is the Social Security Amount representing in the What-if’s section? What is total lifetime benefits being displayed in Advizr?

The benefit listed is the amount that the beneficiary can expect to receive based on their PIA at that particular age. In the proposed scenario in the image above, the client at age 67 would be entitled to receive $2,234 of social security benefit. Their spouse would receive $1,616 at age 70 by delaying the benefit from the current retirement age of 67.

Total lifetime benefits are the sum total of benefits from social security start age to death for a client.

How are Spousal Benefits derived and how do I simulate this action with my client?If you're married and your primary insurance amount is less than your spouse's, you can claim either a benefit on your own record or a "spousal" benefit. If the lower earner first claims at full retirement age, the spousal benefit is 50% of the other spouse's primary insurance amount. The lower earner can't claim a spousal benefit until the other spouse files for his benefit.A spousal benefit is two benefits: the lower earner's own benefit plus a supplement so that the total received equals up to one-half of the higher earner's benefit.You can simulate filing for spousal benefits by checking the field within the social security tab of the what-if’s section.

What is survivor benefit and how do I see this in Advizr?

In the screenshot above, taken from the Projected Cash Flow report, the client is survived by their spouse. The spouse will receive the survivor’s benefit, if the File for survivor benefits is selected, and if the amount is higher than their own benefit. To read more about the survivor benefit click here.